Goals

Once upon a time David was a full time grad student and I worked several remedial jobs. We were no longer poor college students that relied on Winco gift cards from our parents to supplement our $20 a week food budget but we couldn't afford anything beyond rent and utilities either. We had no children yet but were too poor to be footloose and fancy free. We were living in a two bedroom apartment which was about five steps up from the shoebox we lived in when we were newlyweds. In fact at this point in our lives we had been married three years.

I share this to give you some background for this story.

We went on a date to the Baja Fresh in the Lancaster Mall parking lot. We brought a pad of paper and a pen and we spent some time making Life Goals. Things that seemed so far fetched and impossible at the time. Some of it still seems far fetched and impossible but other things seem much more in reach. And we've even crossed some items off the list.

We broke our Goals into categories.

Education:
David wants to get his PhD in History of Science from a university in Minnesota. And possibly get a law degree and work in patent law. He also wants to learn Japanese and how to play the piano.
Kellie wants to get her MAT with a Library Media emphasis. She also wants to learn bookbinding and papermaking.

Travel:
We want to go to Europe (Italy, France, England, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Holland), Hawaii, Japan, Russia, World Cup 2006 (didn't happen), Disney World, and visit every state in the US at least once.

Family:
Have two to four children and have Kellie stay at home for at least a year.

Financial:
Do something really nice for our parents as a thank you. Retire under the age of 60. Make $100,000 collectively. To be comfortable and not have to worry about money (remember we were barey scraping by!). To make giving to charity a priority.

Career Goals:
David wants to get a job working for Nintendo and write a novel. Kellie wants to work for a school district in a famiy friendly career. And possibly own a coffee shop.

Toys/Misc:
Own a house, a cabin, a beach house, a Volkswagon Bug, a Mini Cooper, a surround sound home theater system, have a room dedicated as a library in our home, Kellie to have an art studio, own a Harley, owns a garden, and always have animals for pets.

I would say that some things on this list have changed and others haven't. Obviously we've met a couple and are far from meeting others. It's fun to look at where we were at that time and think about how we're measuring up. David's dream job is still to work at Nintendo and I would still love to have my very own art studio. We need to start planning more road trips around the United States. But most of all I think it's time to update the list. Time for another date to dream some more. It's been five years...

By the way, this fun scrap of paper was found during the Office Remodel Project. More about that later.